Tuesday, February 10, 2004

ASIO Doesn't Do It Again

For anyone who has the slightest bit of interest in the world around them - or anyone who thinks at all - I would emphatically recommend checking out last night's Four Corners on Willie Brigitte; his background, time in Australia (specifically why it took the authorities so long to work out that he was a terrorist) and his current interrogation in France.

One point I found especially pertinent was an interview with the leader of the mosque in Sydney where Brigitte worshiped. The gist of what he said was, "How can you accuse us of harbouring a terrorist? If the government and intelligence agencies cannot work out that he is a terrorist, how are we meant to be able to? Can we read people's hearts or minds?"

It was also frightening to learn that the communications room at ASIO is NOT STAFFED OUT SIDE OF BUSINESS HOURS. The warning from the French government about Brigitte being a possible dangerous terrorist, having trained in Pakistan, with links to Al Qaeda, arrived at ASIO comms at 10pm on a Friday night. As it was a long weekend, no one received the warning until the following Tuesday. If that doesn't apall you, it should. Anyway, follow up Four Corners with Media Watch, which takes a very rational view of the disgusting mess that was the reporting of the death of David Hookes; interesting whether or not you care about the story itself at all.